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Picky About Food (Tiao Shi 挑食)

This is one of the swankiest tables in town, with an original branch on Quanzhou Lu and an even more polished new branch on Fujian Lu.

Picky About Food is highly selective in its ingredient sourcing, with reliable local and international seafood swimming in well-tended tanks and an elevated level of service that seems almost stuffy by Kulangsu standards.

One of the house specialities is dubbed “Boston lobster” (bo si tun long xia，波士顿龙虾), which comes steamed with glass noodles, garlic, oil, and spring onions. This prep is more in the Kulangsu street-food style than anything you might find in Massachusetts, but it’s fresh, flavorful, and juicy.

If you once enjoyed the Chinese-American dish known as “egg foo young” back when it was a standard at U.S. Chinese restaurants in the 1980s, as I did, then tiao shi dou fu （ 天使豆腐）, fried egg custard cubes in a light brown sauce, will take you back. On the other hand, the taste, texture, and name of this dish might also fool you into thinking you’re eating tofu. It’s adorned with tomatoes and thinly julienned red peppers.